Nuggets of Wisdom

Monday, December 22, 2014

SATIRE: Movie Review: Black "Annie" Supports White Supremacy

The new "Annie" may have black characters, but it supports the same white supremacist capitalism of the original.

Irma Kant
Daily Bungle

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year—if you're an affluent white Christian cisgender heterosexual male. If you're not, then the holiday is yet another sad reminder of your oppression and exploitation under our white supremacist, patriarchal, heteronormative, transphobic, Eurocentric, imperialistic, hyper-capitalist society.

After all, when most Americans think of the ideal Christmas, they always think of a "White Christmas", never a "Black Christmas." If that doesn't blatantly reveal how the Christmas season is deeply rooted in white supremacy, then I don't know what does.

Despite this, many people-of-color have found solace this holiday season with the new "Annie" movie released last week. My fellow social justice warriors have considered it an early Christmas present, with its black cast providing much-needed media representation in a white-dominated movie landscape—not to mention it was satisfactory to see so many racist temper tantrums on social media over the casting of the titular character as a young black girl. (Mmm! Nothing goes better with hot cocoa than white tears!)

However, despite casting the traditionally white characters of this traditionally white musical as POC, this movie still proves to be rather problematic, especially with its white supremacist, capitalist overtones. If anything, the black casting makes it all the more problematic!

As a white girl, I humbly check my privilege and acknowledge that I cannot properly speak for POC; however, having taken a course in African-American studies, and having dated a black guy, I feel I'm somewhat qualified to discuss black issues as a white ally.